The Teleconsultations for Eczema in Children (TECH) study has now finished and the results will be shared soon. Preliminary findings have been published online.
The TECH Study investigated the effectiveness and acceptability of teleconsultations for follow-up care of eczema in children and young people. The results will help us better understand the experiences and views of teleconsultations from the patient and parent perspective and inform future research in this field.
Since the Covid-19 pandemic, many children and young people have had teleconsultations in dermatology. A teleconsultation is a remote appointment with the healthcare professional by phone or video, instead of going to the hospital. Many patients find them convenient and flexible. However, the disadvantages include the doctor or nurse not being able to examine the skin and technical problems. The Department of Health wants hospitals to continue providing teleconsultations. This study explored whether teleconsultations are effective for following up children with eczema and whether they are acceptable to patients and parents.
This study explored the experiences and views of children, young people and their parents who have had teleconsultations for eczema, through an online survey and interviews. The researchers also carried out a survey with doctors and nurses providing teleconsultations for children and young people in dermatology departments, to find out more about how teleconsultations are being carried out in different hospitals and their experiences. They also worked with a health economist to explore the costs involved with different types of appointments. We hope the initial research findings and final results will help inform future research in this field, and also help to improve teleconsultations for young people and children in the future.
The TECH study was carried out by a team of doctors – dermatology trainees and dermatologists across the UK – who took part in the UK Dermatology Clinical Trials Network (UK DCTN) trainee groups programme in 2021. Their research team also included a patient representative, qualitative researcher and health economist. The study was funded by the UK DCTN 2021 Themed Call Award, which was co-funded by the National Eczema Society and British Society for Paediatric and Adolescent Dermatology. The study was also funded by two Health Education England Topol Digital Fellowships, awarded to Dr Natalie King Stokes and Dr Aoife Daly. We are grateful for the support from our funders to enable us to carry out this research.